A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Is Currensea Card Good For Travelling…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing clients do not really require or want
include charges, limitations or costs to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Card Good For Travelling
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank automatically validates that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking money and the extra step. However that does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Is Currensea Card Good For Travelling